Norbit features a collaboration between Terry Crews and Marlon Wayans, reuniting them for the first time since 2004's White Chicks. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in make-up,[2] and also multiple wins at the 2007 Golden Raspberry Awards. It was negatively received by critics, but the film was a commercial success.

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Norbit Albert Rice (Eddie Murphy) and Kate Thomas (Thandie Newton) are best friends as children in an orphanage owned by their father figure, Mr. Wong (Eddie Murphy), but are separated when Kate is adopted. While being bullied by twins in the orphanage a few years later, Norbit is saved by an overweight girl named Rasputia Latimore (Eddie Murphy) who forces him to be her boyfriend. Though at first, she genuinely liked Norbit and cared about him - Rasputia grew up to be a very ignorant, mean spirited woman. Eventually pressuring Norbit to marry her, Rasputia mistreats, insults, and dominates Norbit to make sure that she keeps him all to herself. Norbit is also belittled by Rasputia's older brothers, Big Black Jack (Terry Crews), Blue (Lester 'Rasta' Speight), and Earl (Clifton Powell), working as a bookkeeper at their local construction company. The Latimore brothers also run a 'security' business' and installed fear in everyone in the town except Mr. Wong, who refuses to sell his establishment to them.

When he realizes that Rasputia is cheating on him with her dance instructor Buster Perkin (Marlon Wayans), Norbit vents out his rage at a puppet show for the children at the orphanage. Unexpectedly, during the show, Norbit sees Kate for the first time in years. Stunned by her return, his affection for her reignites while learning she is buying Mr. Wong's orphanage, but he is disappointed to find out that she is now engaged to Deion Hughes (Cuba Gooding Jr.). With help from his two ex-pimp friends Pope Sweet Jesus (Eddie Griffin) and Lord Have Mercy (Katt Williams) and the other townspeople, Norbit manages to meet with Kate without Rasputia aware. Revealed to be a crooked business man and gold digger, Deion helps the Latimore brothers make the restaurant into a strip club to get a cut in the profit. The Latimore brothers dupe Norbit into giving Kate papers to renew the restaurant's liquor permit, the meeting leading Norbit helping Kate rehearse the wedding where a kiss causes her to reconsider the marriage. When Norbit returns home, he learns that Rasputia somehow saw the whole thing as she threatens Norbit to stay away from Kate or she would kill her.

When Kate finds out about the deal, Deion convinces her that Norbit only used her to help the Latimores. When she confronts him after he is locked in the basement by a vengeful Rasputia, Norbit drives Kate away to save her from Rasputia. Rasputia reveals that Norbit played Kate and has been setting her up from that moment the first day she got here. When the Latimores leave to go to the wedding, learning of their scheme and Deion's gold digging, Norbit escapes from the basement and races to the church on his bike. Though the Latimores attempt to stop him, Norbit reaches the church but his proof of Deion's divorce settlements were destroyed in the process, due to him falling in a pond while escaping the Latimores . Norbit arranges for Deion's ex-wives and children to arrive in person, forcing Deion to admit defeat. Furious that their plans are ruined, the Latimore brothers attempt to kill Norbit before finding the townspeople rallying up against them. Rasputia fights her way through the crowd and almost kills Norbit before she runs off after being harpooned in her butt by Mr. Wong and her brothers chased out of town. After Kate avows her love for Norbit with a passionate kiss, the two reconcile.

Kate and Norbit buy the orphanage and get married under the tree where they once played as children. Rasputia and her brothers move to Mexico and open up El Nipplopolis, where Rasputia becomes their most popular and lucrative stripper.

Norbit was the first of three films where director Brian Robbins and Eddie Murphy worked together. They later collaborated for Meet Dave and A Thousand Words. In the case of the first two movies he starred in working with Robbins, Murphy did multiple characters and worked in body costumes.

Norbit was almost universally panned. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 9%, based on 123 reviews (11 positive, 112 negative). The site's consensus states "Coming off his Oscar-nominated performance in Dreamgirls, the talented-but-inconsistent Eddie Murphy plays three roles in Norbit, a cruel, crass, stereotype-filled comedy that's more depressing than funny."[3]Metacritic gave the movie a score of 27%, based on 26 reviews which were "generally unfavorable".[4]

Mick LaSalle, of the San Francisco Chronicle gave a positive review, suggesting that Norbit might help Murphy's chances of winning an Oscar for his role in Dreamgirls, saying that his work playing three distinct characters in Norbit is more impressive than anything he did in Dreamgirls.[5] Others suggested it might hurt his chances.[6] Ultimately, Alan Arkin won the award for Best Supporting Actor.

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a B grade, with under eighteens (28% of those surveyed) giving it a B+ grade.[7]

Norbit was a success at the box office. It opened to $34.2 million in the United States and was Eddie Murphy's 14th #1 box office opener.[8] The film earned $95,673,607 at the North American domestic box office, and $63,639,954 in other markets, for a total of $159,313,561 worldwide.[1]